Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A sleek, intense style, with ripe blackberry, pomegranate and earth flavors accented by oak spice. This has a graphite edge, too, accentuated by bracing acidity. A bit compact on the finish for now, yet lingering. Best from 2025 through 2043. 124 cases made, 34 cases imported.
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Vinous
The 2020 Pommard Les Rugiens 1er Cru has a lifted nose of cranberry and wild strawberry. With aeration, more black fruit emerges mixed with light briny notes. It settles down nicely. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit. It is peppery in style, has a rm grip, is not long and lacks a bit of grace, though it is packed with avor and energy.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Representing some of the darkest, deepest and sturdiest Pinot Noir of Burgundy, Pommard is one of the two villages in Côte de Beaune—along with Volnay—that is recognized for its impressive Pinot Noir. While it can’t boast any Grands Crus vineyards, its extraordinary Premiers Crus vineyards are aplenty.
Les Pézerolles, Les Épenots, Clos des Épeneaux, Les Chanlins, Les Jarolières, Les Fremiers and particularly Les Rugiens are among the most outstanding Premiers Crus.
The best Pommards will be concentrated in flavors such as black cherry, blackberry and dark chocolate, have dazzling aromas of violets, menthol or wild herbs and a firm and powerful finish. They typically demand some time in the bottle to reach their peak.